[Archived]

After having just crawled under my bus with IFS, I don’t see how lowering or raising the bus within the limits of the air spring could cause A arm failure. They are not moving all that much. Did the mechanic say how and what fails?

[Archived]

I seriously doubt if operating the level low within the normal range has any impact on the life of the suspension bushings. Keep in mind our suspension is used on commercial seated coaches and without a doubt Prevost coaches have millions if not billions of miles of service on that suspension.

If I am not mistaken a lot of Prevost conversion owners spent a lot of money replacing suspension A arms or bushings because they looked like they had failed, when in fact they had not. Unless and until the pin going through the bushing is loose the bushings and A arm assembly are working as intended. I wonder if the mechanic is aware of the Prevost standard for acceptability on bushings on the IFS.

Tom has asked Prevost to address this and as soon as an answer is received it will be posted.

[Archived]

It just doesn’t add up for me.. Prevost seated coaches with kneeling most likely have lowered the front ends a gazzilion times and if this impacted the life of the A-Arms, the commercial operators would be squawking big time.

[Archived]

“After having just crawled under my bus with IFS, I don’t see how lowering or raising the bus within the limits of the air spring could cause A arm failure. They are not moving all that much. Did the mechanic say how and what fails?”

Gerald,

A lot of discussion took place on POG years back about premature A arm bushing failures and grease joint boots. One individual who was doing mechanic work in his yard or at the coach owner’s house repaired or replaced a lot of A arms or bushings because the bushings looked bad. Pictures were posted and everybody got worked into a frenzy because the bushings looked bad. Unfortunately nobody asked Prevost what constituted a failure or required a repair. The appearance of the bushings is not a criteria used to determine acceptability.

I will await Bill Jensen’s response to Tom’s request for information but will say in commercial service operators are finding the life of A arms and bushings is several hundreds of thousands of miles.

But if folks want to spend money because the bushings look bad who can argue? I have been known to polish my slack adjusters so I understand we take pride in appearances.

Another hot button item is cracked or missing dust boots on the suspension parts. The best thing owners can do is try to prevent damage or loss by making sure whoever greases the coach is not being paid in relation to how much grease is used. I have serviced all three of my coaches and when I am greasing them I add only enough grease to see a slight movement in the dust covers or boots. I have seen mechanic pump in grease until they swell up and grease runs out. Eventually they crack or split. So the first rule is to not apply any more grease than necessary.

But if they do crack don’t worry. Greasing at the 6200 mile intervals is all that is needed and I doubt if any of us will live long enough to see a coach that is greased routinely see a difference in the life of moving parts with or without a dust boot.

[Barry]

I know that a lot of the owners will drop the suspension when they wil be leaving the vehicle for some time. While we do not recommend that because we do not want the air bags sitting for long periods for long times. It is not good for the bags. When you remove the air from the bags they collapse and sit on a rubber snubber that it internal to the bag. It is not made to hold the weight of the vehicle. We would rather see some small air pressure in the bags to keep the flexible member from collapsing on itself.

As to your concern about the a-arms on the independent front suspension, you will not damage the arms. The poor look to the ribber bushings on the top a-arm is normal and from it normal use. The cracking of the rubber around the upper a-arm pins is caused by the geometry of the suspension. It may look bad but it is no problem and does not require replacement. If on the other hand the metal pin that is imbedded in the rubber bushing is loose, then it must be repalced.

I get calls from alignment shops wanting to replace these upper bushings on the a-arms as being bad. I explain the looks of the bushing and tell them that unless the pin is loose in the bushing, the a-arms are fine and do not replace them.

As I mentioned above I would be more concerned with air bag damage from keeping the suspension down and not worried about the a-arm bushings.

[Peter]

Thanks for the answer Prevost.

Jon, I guess this answers my question a few weeks ago about letting the air out of the bags to store the coach or not.

I now know.

[Peter]

Thanks prevost much appreciated for the response we now have the facts.

Jon and Tom – your post get cut and paste over to pog, not sure why I even go over there. Thanks for all this help and this is the place for real info.

[Bob]

Harvey. Save $100 and get help on PC.

Another thing the NAPA card can save you $100 a year. It’s only available on PC.

[Archived]

Off topic a little, but as one of the founding members of POG it is really disappointing to see how it has morphed into a travel site, a site with old FMCA articles reproduced, and a site which has chosen to copy or mimic PC.

We are not competing, because POG and other groups are (or were) social groups. We have a focus on technical aspects of Prevost ownership.

Since I am no longer a POG member I wonder why anyone would spend $100 when almost the same folks plus a whole lot more are members of this site and can get the same information from members and owners with a whole lot more experience.

[Archived]

Good point, why spend a 100 bucks, they just copy/paste our stuff anyway. Lots of great folks on the POG forum and most are friends, but my understanding it is now the travel/tourist website for bus owners. Nothing wrong with that, but when it comes to accurate, informative and supported maintenance and systems, PC is the place to be.

Come to think of it, we have a social side as well, just check out the mini rally attendance next week at Sevierville. I think it has surpassed 25 coaches.

We have one seminar planned and that’s how to keep Jon up past 7pm!

[Jim]

What does my snoring at 7:15 PM have to do with IFS? Just remember I am the one that wakes the roosters so if you folks who stay up past the Lawrence Welk reruns every evening want a seminar, I can teach you how to wake up in the morning. (At 3:00 AM eastern)

[Archived]

I just paid my 100 to POG because i did not want to be a parasite now i read your post and agree even though im a buck poorer I was under the impression that thies two sites were connected they aways say about the same and Jon is posting on both and now i hear he is not a member whats up

[Jim]

They have been reposting my previous posts. I guess imitation is flattery. They are now adding an Ask Prevost section so we must be doing something right.

Paying $100 just to get travel information and cut and paste articles seems a little steep. We will be doubling our membership dues next year and will still be $100 bucks less.

[Davy]

I see the blatent copying as an admission that they have ZERO technical knowledge over there any longer. When they have to copy content and then start their “own” Ask Prevost forum, you know they are going down the toilet.

Maybe I should ask that question over there…?

[Archived]

Last year while working through Koni shocks adjustments I measured my front ride height. It needed to be adjusted slightly lower. Called Arrow Stage Lines here in KC getting a shop appointment for the pit stall.

I watched as the adjustment was made and then the front air bags were completely discharged. I wanted to be under the bus while the suspension flexed. I’ll be the first to admit that be underneath while the whole bus lowers is just a little scary watching it fall. I do recall seeing a smooth drop with complete control, smooth action on suspension parts. It is just a piece of mechanical wonder how all those parts work together. That Prevost suspension gives us the best ride on the planet.

Interesting how someone could state that dropping it “way down low ” could ” rip the crap out of bushings.

It is just not true and a blanket statement of questionable qualifications.